Variants

Broader Terms

Sources

found: Lopez, D. Films by genre, 1993(Romantic comedy. This is a blanket term that includes any comic film in which the protagonists, a man and a woman, engage in courtship, amorous dalliance and sexual games meant to seduce and entrap the member of the opposite sex. Romantic comedies are constructed around the ups and downs of a couple's relationship--the initial antagonism, the misunderstandings, the bouts of jealousy, the conflicts of interest, until all is well at the end of the film. The following types of comedy also qualify as romantic comedy: Marriage comedy, Screwball comedy, Sophisticated comedy)

found: Konigsberg, I. The complete film dictionary, 1997(Romantic comedy. A film dealing with the relationship of a man and woman, who, after many trials and tribulations caused by their own misunderstandings, a number of obstacle figures, or both, are finally united at the end of the film. A slight variation on this theme is the couple who start off united, are temporarily separated, but are reunited at the end of the film. In both cases, it is crucial that the attraction between the two is evident and that their trials and tribulations be treated in a comic manner. Romantic comedy has sometime been thought of as synonymous with screwball comedy, but the second classification refers to a group of films too specific to be so all-inclusive. A number of romantic comedies have heroines less aggressive or actions less madcap so that they are distinguishable from the screwball variety.)

found: Sennett, T. Lunatics and lovers : a tribute to the giddy and glittering era of the screen's "screwball" and romantic comedies, 1985.

found: LC database, Jan. 29, 2004(the Hollywood romantic comedy)

found: Baldick, C. The Oxford dictionary of literary terms, 2008(romantic comedy. A general term for comedies that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young lovers, in a lighthearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids serious satire. The romantic comedy has become a recognized genre of popular film, in which context it is now sometimes abbreviated as romcom.)